


Just Another Product of Today

by comfycozysweaters



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Established Relationship, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mild torture, Mutant Powers, Mutants, klance, some blood, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-13 04:42:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16010516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comfycozysweaters/pseuds/comfycozysweaters
Summary: Keith knew Lance kept something big from him. He knew he lied, covered his tracks with half truths and incomplete details. He knew to Lance it was important that it remain that way and Keith didn’t mind. So long as they were honest about the important things, he was happy.So long as they were together he was fine.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> God I can’t stop writing fanfics and coming up with AUs. You sick of me yet???
> 
> Best read while listening to Natural by Imagine Dragons

His rifle was steady against his shoulder.   
  
Sights perfectly calibrated.   
  
Grip biting into his hand, trigger cold against his finger.   
  
He breathed in.

 

Tracked as the target moved.

  
Breathed out.

  
His finger twitched, ready, waiting. A breeze blew and he felt suspended in space, the world falling away to just him, his rifle, and his prey.   
  
The man turned, walking between two shipping freights.    
  
He inhaled.   
  
His finger pulled. The man’s head jerked.   
  
He was packed up and running before the target hit the ground. He was done here. Another contract fulfilled. More credits transferred to his account. Another body left to be discovered with no evidence as to what happened. At one point it had upset him to be so efficient at killing. A natural talent that left him reeling.   
  
Now he relied on it. The law couldn’t arrest what it couldn’t catch and he was very hard to pin down.   
  
He stashed his rifle trading it out for a satchel and walking casually to the tram. Twenty minutes later and he was at his motel, shedding his clothes and readying a bath. Though it had been a clean, no contact kill, he swore he was washing blood from his hands. It swirled in the water, a dance of red tendrils against the white porcelain of the tub. He closed his eyes and slipped down until the water lapped at his chin.    
  
“Lance?” His eyes open and glance up to see Keith standing in the doorway. He hadn’t heard him come in but now that he was there the sharpshooter smiled and stretched his arm in welcome.    
  
“Hey cariño.” Keith didn’t hesitate to strip and join him, resting against his chest and trying to make the too tight space work. Lance didn’t mind the awkward press of their bodies as he breathed in the scent of his boyfriend. “What have you been up to while I was gone?”   
  
Keith’s head dropped back to stare at Lance with a knowing look. “Errands. Grabbed some food and did some research at the library. There’s a lab in the next town over we should hit. Some old news archives hint towards it being a holding place for Naturals.”   
  
Lance nodded. “We’ll do that then.” He kisses Keith’s temple and Keith smiles.    
  
“How’d your meeting go?”    
  
“Well. The guy was right on time and easy to sway.” Keith hummed in response and Lance found himself not for the first time wishing to share more than vague non-answers. This was how they worked though. One aware of all of the dangers they faced, taking jobs that eliminated them one at a time while the other refrained from questions, choosing to believe whatever tale he spun for the sake of their arrangement.   
  
It felt dishonest, but in a world of secrets and lies what else could they expect.    
  
—   
  
Lance’s laughter filled the room, punctuated by needy moans and answered with a repeated slap of skin on skin. Keith’s teeth sunk into his collarbone to muffle his own sounds. The air grew heavy as their movements sped, growing desperate and thirsty for more more more.  A stuttered stop with a fierce press of lips to lips.    
  
And then an overwhelming exhale.   
  
They laid together, limbs tangled and sweat cooling on their naked bodies. Keith cleaned them up and Lance caught him in a languid kiss. They shared in a mutual awe at where they were and that they were with each other. Keith’s eyes flickered with the flames barely contained and Lance’s answered with a piercing perceptiveness that left Keith breathless. They fit so well together in every conceivable way; bodies, minds, spirit. All belonging to each other and shared willingly with a trust and affection as an unbreakable force.   
  
It was amazing and scary and they wouldn’t have it any other way.   
  
—   
  
Alarms blared as feet thundered from hallway to hallway, searching hastily for what they knew was here. They passed a lab, a stair well, and several offices before they found it. Two large doors with RESTRICTED written in big blocky letters across them. Keith looked at Lance.   
  
Lance readied his pistol. Nodded.    
  
The doors burst open and orderlies scattered. Gun fire sounded hitting legs and arms and never shooting to kill but still drawing blood. Screams sounded but they were static to the two making their way deeper into the building. They couldn’t compare to the cries behind locked doors that reached out and yanked their attention towards them.    
  
Lance covered as Keith hooked his tablet to the doors’ locking mechanism. It took seconds to successfully hack into the system but once it did the doors opened and people hesitantly peeked out. Children, adults, teenagers all in smocks and slippers, looking around with wide eyed terror. Lance smiled invitingly.    
  
“Hey there! We heard some nasty shit’s been going on here so we’ve decided to forcefully shut down operations. If you’d be so kind as to follow us out and to safety, that would be greatly appreciated. Oh and any fun little powers you have, feel free to cause some destruction as we go.” He winked and they were off.    
  
Fire licked at Keith’s fingers and he steadied himself. The building stood before him, empty except for whatever emergency staff was on call. He raised a hand, watched the flames dance along his palm and stretch, searching for release. He granted it, thrusting the flames to the building and watching as they overtook it, burning impossibly hot.   
  
Lance stood beside him and searched for his free hand.    
  
Their fingers entwined.   
  
—   
  
Survivors, rescues, refugees.   
  
Naturals.   
  
Freaks and monsters. Lab rats. Mutants.   
  
All the same always huddling together in the after math of a rescue. Lance was a friendly face and he was the one that deactivated the neutralizers and debriefed the group on safe houses and the organization that was working in the shadows to save them. He’d been doing this for longer than Keith and Keith wasn’t good with people so he sat back and let the Naturals believe he was their lookout, their protector if anything happened.   
  
He was a background force to them and that was fine.   
  
Soon, Allura and Coran would show up with two white vans painted like church shuttles to pick up the newest rescues and cart them off to freedom. Some would return to the world trying to make a life for themselves, some would be recruited to help like Lance and Keith did, and some would be offered refuge on the campus of the church the vans advertised. Naturals called it the Castle for all it looked like one, keeping its identity and location a secret with the nickname that Allura hated with a passion.    
  
“We’re not royalty,” she’d say uncomfortable and shaken.   
  
“They need something to give them hope,” Lance would reply. “Seeing this as a the Castle makes them feel important, safe. It’s a symbol.”   
  
Keith agreed with Allura though he wondered how many times they’d had this conversation.    
  
Lance was the one who coined the name Castle.

  
—   
  
Powers were ultimately a neutral affair, but Lance had never considered his ability as being anything but bad. What use was it except for killing? He was a sharpshooter that never missed. Never faltered. He could pick a target from blocks away without even hesitating.    
  
A perfect shot every time.   
  
His eyes saw everything. For awhile he wore glasses to dull the sensation but once he was captured he had no choice but to learn and live with his power. It was trained until spitballs turned to bullets and classmates were replaced with marks. He was lucky in that the experiments didn’t continue past his eighteenth. Instead he was drafted into service for the Company. Set against his own, used in wars and skirmishes as a weapon. He lived and breathed conflict with not enough rest between missions until he felt less like a human and more like an extension of his gun. His eyes that saw all turned dull and hard.   
  
Killing his own came easy until it didn’t.   
  
Allura was gorgeous, even with blood smeared over her chin and running from her nose. Her eyes had been harsh and full of fight, sparking with rage and never leaving his as he stood guard over her. She spit insults and promises of injury just as soon as she got free.   
  
He’d heard it all before, but this was the first time he believed it.   
  
When Sanders showed up to relieve him, he was grateful.    
  
She broke out easily only thirty minutes after he’d stepped out for a smoke. Slammed him against the wall and set on choking him until his last breath left his body. She was larger, purple with fangs and sharp nails biting into his neck. He didn’t question it, didn’t even fight it. If he was to die by her hands then so be it.   
  
She only stopped when she noticed the neutralizer secured over his wrist. Dropped him in shock, confusion evident.    
  
“You’re one of us.”   
  
He grinned and gave her a weak wink. “Worse than that, Princess.” His pistol was out and crushed in her fist before he could get a shot off. Her look of betrayal cut through him before he lost consciousness.   
  
—   
  
There were three recruits from the newest batch. A family of a father with his son and daughter. All scientists. While it wasn’t what Lance had hoped for, Allura was ecstatic.    
  
“We’re so behind our adversaries it’s good to have people able to keep up with their methods.”    
  
Lance couldn’t argue. His holster felt heavy at his side.    
  
Sam Holt, the father, caught him alone at the range, watched as he shot target after target without a single miss. It sent his hair on end and palms sweating. He didn’t like an audience.

 

Finally the silence broke.    
  
“Subject B13. Lance McClain. Sniper and war criminal.” Sam wasn’t accusing him, merely stating facts. Still it shocked Lance and he fumbled with his gun, missing a target and getting bad kickback that jammed his finger.

  
Lance’s heart was pounding, anxiety thrumming below the surface. He slammed Sam into the wall and stared him down. “You don’t know what you’re talking about old man.” His voice was steady and dark, not at all how he felt on the inside.   
  
Sam seemed to realize how impactful what he said was a minute too late. He looked apologetic as he raised his hands palms out. “Sorry, son. I’m not here to start anything. I just...” Here he looked away. “I wanted to apologize. I worked on your case before I was... detained.”    
  
Lance’s eyes widened and he studied Sam’s face trying to place it on any of the faceless scientists that filled his nightmares. He could barely remember. A kind face in a sea of indifference. An apology. A breathed “Lord what have we done” as he cried and screamed and tried to claw out his eyes but his hands were restrained and he could only beg for this to end. A kind hand on his shoulder, cool water down his throat.    
  
Lance didn’t know what to do, how to react. Sam was waiting and Lance had no idea for what. Would he scream? Beat the man who had been there, had witnessed and never stopped what was being done? Vomit as bile rose and his stomach churned?    
  
His knees cracked against the concrete as he fell. His arms clung to the man’s legs and he cried into his pants soaking them without a care. Great heaving sobs at memories best left forgotten. A hand rested on his head.   
  
—   
  
Keith knew Lance kept something big from him. He knew he lied, covered his tracks with half truths and incomplete details. He knew to Lance it was important that it remain that way and Keith didn’t mind. So long as they were honest about the important things, he was happy.   
  
So long as they were together he was fine.   
  
Still when Lance’s eyes faded to a far off destination he couldn’t reach, he wondered what it was. If he knew, would he be able to ground Lance better? Would he be able to follow him as he left the room in every way but physical?    
  
Would he still want to if he knew?   
  
—   
  
“Keith, go.” Lance’s breathing was labored, hitching and liquid as he leaned heavily on the wall. Blood was pouring from a shotgun to the gut and Keith’s hold on him was slipping. He refused to give up however and used Lance’s break to adjust his grip.   
  
“Shut up, Lance. I’m not leaving you.” His feet slipped in the blood as he pulled Lance along. There was so damn much how the hell were they going to make it out? “God fucking damn it!” He wasn’t leaving. He wasn’t leaving!   
  
Lance laughed and it rattled unnaturally. “Cariño, por favor. Get out of here.” He smiled and it was bloody. Keith’s heart skipped and his chest grew tight.    
  
“Lance I can’t-“ His eyes watered and his throat worked around a lump that threatened to choke him. “Please.”   
  
Lance forced himself off of his boyfriend and leaned heavily against the wall. His hand trembled as it rose to trace Keith’s cheek. “It’s ok. It’s going to be ok.” His thumb ran over his bottom lip and Keith desperately grabbed the hand and pressed it to his cheek. “You’ll be back, yeah? You’ll come get me. I know you will. Mi amor.”   
  
Keith couldn’t-He couldn’t-   
  
But he had to. Already backup was running for them, yells and orders echoing down the hall. He yanked Lance into a rough kiss, uncaring of the blood and trying to leach out every bit of energy and fucking promise he could. He breaks and stares into Lance’s eyes.   
  
So sharp. Always sharp.    
  
“I will be back, Lance. Don’t you fucking doubt that, ok. I love you.”    
  
Lance slid to the floor, pistol in hand. He took out two before they got to him.   
  
Fire rose from the ground floor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one gets a little graphic.
> 
> Art here: http://brpeerpressureart.tumblr.com/post/178157963263/thats-some-fire-power-you-got-there-bud-what

Keith had spent a total of eleven months and twelve days in Company hands before he broke out. During that time he came to know his power inside and out better than any of the lab techs could have predicted. He was tested rigorously with no regard to his health. So long as he was fit enough to perform, it was acceptable. Because of this he lived in a state on the edge of comfort. Constantly hungry, constantly tired.  
  
Constantly angry.  
  
One thing he noticed before any of the lab techs had was his power fluctuated with his mood. As the anger grew, so did the fire within. It brushed on the tips of his fingers and surged through his veins looking for any exit, any relief. He kept it in, kept it quiet.  
  
Let it smolder underneath his skin waiting for the perfect opportunity.  
  
And when it came, Keith burned as hot as the rage that had fueled him during his stay. Where once he was worried about losing control, now he let it take over. Spread wild and free engulfing any and all that stood in its way. He didn’t care who got hurt, who died. They deserved it after what they’d done to him. Done to countless others. Charred bodies littered the halls in his wake, scorch marks covering every surface he passed. Still the fire wasn’t satisfied. It ran rampant through the floor, then onwards to those below and above it.  
  
Keith stepped out of the burning building backlit like a demon emerging from Hell.   
  
—  
  
They met under tense circumstances.  
  
Keith on fire, rage consuming his every thought, another lab falling around him as people screamed for mercy, called him demon, a devil.   
  
Lance, acting as an orderly trying to usher any Natural he could to safety while fire threatened to consume them. He managed to get a group of them to a fire escape but it wouldn’t matter if blaze continued unchecked.  
  
Lance’s eyes saw everything.  
  
Keith saw nothing beyond the pain he’d endured. He couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. He was too far gone and too angry to care.  
  
Lance saw an echo of himself, betrayed and hurt, lashing out at anything and anyone to drag them to his level, force them to feel as he had. He saw the fear and loneliness that fed that anger. The insecurity bred from a life of being treated like a monster, a freak. Never more than his power, simultaneously too powerful and too weak to exist in polite society.   
  
He stood before the man with fire for eyes and understood.   
  
—  
  
Allura held Keith and Keith couldn’t find the energy to push her away. He clung to her as tears fell, let himself break. She tightened her arms and ran a hand through his hair.  
  
“We’ll get him back, Keith.” Her voice wavered but was filled with an anger he related to.   
  
—  
  
Takashi Shirogane lost Adam after accepting a job with the Castle. He had been missing for a year until he was rescued and when he came back it was to a heartbroken husband. They tried, they really did, but there were things between them that had died in the year absence. Things had changed. Shiro had changed.  
  
Adam wanted to make it work.  
  
Shiro wanted to join the resistance.  
  
Adam’s things were packed and gone before Shiro returned from a debriefing. Shiro couldn’t blame him but it didn’t stop the pain of his loss.   
  
Keith was there when he hit the track to literally run from his problems. It had been the first time they’d seen each other since Keith and Shiro shared a home with three other foster kids before Keith was lost to the system. Shiro wasn’t sure what to expect but when Keith hugged him, he returned it. Buried his nose in his hair and marveled at the irony of losing one family only to find another.  
  
—  
  
Lance had gone to school with one of the officers that guarded him. It was an odd realization and one that sent him closer to hysteria. They were friends on facebook. He wondered if it’d be weird to ask about her girlfriend.   
  
Probably.  
  
His staples pulled as he laughed quiet and gasping reeling closer and closer to losing it. They had him restrained to a hospital bed hooked up on so many machines Lance had lost track of what was him and what was wire. There was an IV drip but he didn’t know what it held, only that it was speeding his recovery. What Natural had died to give them this substance? Was it safe or was he the test subject?   
  
He drifted.  
  
Slept.  
  
Spent his days in a haze.   
  
A visor was lowered over his eyes. It was blacked out with wires (so many damn wires) trailing down the sides and plugging into what he assumed was a screen with whatever readings it took displayed.  
  
“Hey guys this is a great sleep mask but I’m not all that sleepy, ya know?” His voice trembled and his smile was forced. No one answered him but he could hear them in the room moving and typing. “Maybe we can revisit later. Add in a good face mask. Do a whole spa day.”  
  
Still no response.  
  
“Subject B13, Trial 1-S. Assessment since last check up, two years prior.” The scientist was steady and calm. the exact opposite to Lance. “Begin.”  
  
“Can you be a little more specific? Come on you gotta give me someth-“  
  
A scream was ripped from his throat as the mask turned on. His eyes felt on fire. They had to be melting. Liquid and thick oozing down his cheeks and pooling on the bed beneath him. Had to be. His vision was white hot and his every nerve lit up and vibrated with pain.  
  
Just as abruptly the machine turned off and he was left panting and listless, eyes intact. His head lulled to the side the lead scientist had sounded off from. “Warn a guy, won’t you? It’s rude to ignore-“  
  
Another scream, another light, and he was sobbing.   
  
“Subject’s vision improved by 20%. Reaction time by 80%. Suggested physical test of abilities.” The voice was clinical and that wasn’t fare at all.  
  
The visor was removed and he almost broke with relief before it was replaced with a cloth mask so dark and thick he could see nothing but black. He tried to reign in his panic, focusing on breathing, counting to ten, all the things he told Keith to do but never bothered with himself.   
  
He laughed to an empty room.   
  
—  
  
“I think I love you.” Keith’s voice was loud in the silence of their room, waiting with anticipation for Lance’s reaction. Their hands laid clasped between them and neither felt the need to break contact even long after they should have moved apart and came back together to comfortably sleep.   
  
Lance smiled softly, so different from his usual wide grins and teasing smirks. Keith was the only who saw this calm and warm side of their sharpshooter and he treasured the privilege. “Shit, Keith, that’s significant.” He wasn’t troubled by it though and even brought their hands up to lay a kiss on the other’s knuckles.   
  
Keith flushed and shifted so his head rested on his free arm. “Do you?” He tried not to sound as desperate or insecure as he felt but feared Lance would catch on anyways. Nothing got past Lance.  
  
Lance hummed and pressed a kiss to his palm. “Yeah.” There was no teasing lilt to his voice, just an earnestness that sent Keith’s heart pounding. “Yeah I do.”  
  
Keith’s mouth went dry. “Say it, then.”   
  
Lance’s eyes pierced Keith to his core, all seeing, all knowing. “Te amo, mi amor. I love you too, Keith.”  
  
—  
  
They couldn’t find Lance.  
  
That was the news Allura brought to Keith and he honestly didn’t know if he was able to comprehend the information. Lance was such a huge presence it seemed impossible to just... lose him like that. Never mind that Keith knew exactly how easy it was to lose track of one person in the Company’s care.   
  
It couldn’t apply to Lance.  
  
“We’re doing everything we can, but we can’t divert more resources to finding him.” She sounded just as frustrated as Keith felt and it was the only thing that kept him from lashing out and demanding progress. “We have so many others we need to save. People we know the location of.”  
  
Keith grit his teeth and swallowed.  
  
Allura pressed a hand to Keith’s shoulder, strong and comforting. “Lance will be fine. He’s been against worse and he’ll hold out until we can find him, I know he will.”   
  
She was so sure Keith almost believed her.  
  
—  
  
Pidge and Matt Holt were a force to be reckoned with when they worked together. They shredded the Company’s security, pillaged their mainframes for information and left a trail of devastation and destruction in their wake. It was vengeful and violent but it got the job done while sending a very pointed message.  
  
You don’t fuck with the Holts.  
  
Pidge was a Natural whose affinity for plants warred with her hatred of anything organic. She never saw the use of her power even with all of the tests she’d been subjected to until Coran had introduced her to their green house. As important as their hacking work was, the garden fed and supported their community here at the Castle. It flourished under Pidge’s care much like a line of code turning from letters and numbers into a working program and she had the unexpected pleasure of seeing the joy on other’s faces at the plentiful crops and thriving flowers.  
  
She still saw no point to her power but it made her feel slightly better knowing at least it was being enjoyed by some.  
  
Matt on the other hand had the uncanny ability to pick up any talent from watching and execute it perfectly in one try. Mimicking is what he called it and it was eerily accurate. He could process information impossibly fast and retain it as if it lived in his mind. It helped with programming viruses and hacking into intensely protected systems even if it ended in debilitating migraines afterwards.  
  
While Matt was technically proficient, Pidge was a young genius and together they spread their revenge one system at a time.  
  
The rare times they went into the field to manually hack into the Company, they proved themselves with more than just their computer smarts. Pidge was a skilled boxer, Matt had trained with various weapons. Both were able to protect themselves and act as backup when necessary which led to cleaner, quicker missions.  
  
Allura had a renewed sense of purpose thanks to their new additions and it infected the Castle until everyone acted with a vigor reminiscent of the beginning of this war when things hadn’t become so bleak.  
  
Keith wished he could relate. His hand dropped to his pocket, stroking over the small box that had lived there for several months now.  
  
—  
  
Shiro’s prosthetic was alive. There was no other explanation for the way it reacted to situations, humming to life with a sickly purple glow, energy changing shape depending on the need of the moment. It was unnatural how natural it looked.  
  
“Is it really that odd?” Shiro was leaning against a tree in the courtyard watching as Pidge and her brother sparred. It was turning into a habit, walking the church’s complex only to end up here at this time watching the Holts. Keith had made a teasing comment at one point to which Shiro grew red and dismissed it a bit too fast.   
  
At the moment Keith was sitting on a stone bench  on the walkway with his hands dangling from his knees, fire twirling between his fingers absently. “Kind of. It’s not particularly advanced, so seeing it move so fluidly... it’s a little weird. Cool but weird.”   
  
Shiro frowned. “That may be because of my ability. Technomancer with a robotic arm.” He grins now, cold and unforgiving. “Really stupid for the bastards to equip me with what is essentially a powerful and unique weapon in my hands.” To emphasize the point, his hand glows and a knife forms over his fingers. He doesn’t brandish it however, instead starts to twirl it expertly.   
  
Keith watched transfixed.   
  
—  
  
Lance was moved to a cell. His room is what the guards called it but even with the comfort of a bed and a private (aside from the cameras) bath there was no mistaking it for a prison. The walls were a thick clear plastic hiding nothing from its inhabitants (prisoners) and guards. It was too bright to Lance’s sensitive eyes and he spent the first few hours with his head buried in the threadbare pillow they provided him with.  
  
Sunglasses made of a soft flexible material showed up on his small nightstand when he woke, wondering when he’d fallen asleep. He wasn’t one to let pride come before his comfort so he shoved them on and sighed in relief as he adjusted. The cell next to him held a larger man who looked like he might have at one point been all muscle but malnourishment and lack of exercise had sapped him of his strength and made him soft. Across was a woman whose skin shifted with the light, almost acting as camouflage. There were no other occupied cells which led Lance to believe this was a fairly new facility.   
  
That meant it’d be harder to find.  
  
“Puta madre!” He grumbled, startling his neighbor.  
  
The man looked at him with worry, seemingly trying to decide between leaving it or attempting to talk with the new occupant. Lance took the choice away from him by glancing over and forcing a smile. “Hey. Name’s Lance.”  
  
The man relaxed into a hesitant smile while the girl across from them scoffed and crossed her arms staring at the ceiling. “Hunk. That’s Nyma.”  
  
“Don’t fucking drag me in, big man!” She hissed, glaring at them both then looking away again.   
  
Lance tried to laugh but his wound was still healing and his entire body ached so it came out more like a short wheeze. He was trembling. “How long you been here, Hunk?”  
  
Hunk shrugged looking troubled. “Few days, maybe a week at most. It’s hard to keep track.” He went silent a moment like he was thinking. “They uh got me while I was skating the boardwalk. Didn’t even get to finish my snow cone.” Despite the hilarity of the last sentence, Hunk looked forlorn, scared.   
  
Fuck this dude was green. “Don’t worry Hunk. I’ve got people coming for me. We’ll get you your snow cone when we get out of this shit hole.” He had to believe that. He had to think Keith was coming, that Allura would rip through every lab in the area until she found him.   
  
There was a laugh from Nyma that settled like poison in his throat. “Yeah good luck with that, pretty boy.” She finally sat up, pigtail braids flying with the sudden movement. “I’ve got people too. Been four months since I was moved here and not a damn peep. People been coming in and out of here weekly. No one fucking lasts here long enough for rescue.” Her bitterness and anger was clear and Lance had to work to keep it from upsetting the precarious balance act his brain was doing.  
  
It was tough but he looked back to Hunk and suddenly had someone to save, someone to focus on. Then back to Nyma. “My friends aren’t new to this. They’ll find me. They’ll find us. We’ll get out of here before anyone disappears.”  
  
Nyma snorted and laid back down as Hunk looked at Lance with hope in his eyes.  
  
—  
  
Lance watched as the man in front of him let loose on the lab, incinerating every surface and object still standing past the initial wave of flames. He couldn’t get close as it was, fire wrapping around him like a protective barrier. He watched as what he thought had been the deafening crackle of the flames dwindled to sobs and the body fell to its knees.   
  
Fire still raged around them, but the storm was fading and Lance took advantage of it. He walked towards the man and knelt before him, eyes sharp. “Hey.”   
  
The man’s head snapped up and his eyes burned. Fire surged and Lance backed off. Still he continued talking in a calm soothing voice. “Hey man. I know you’re hurting. I know you’re scared.” He held his hands up slowly, palms open. “But there are others here. Naturals like you and me brought here against their will and they need you to get control.” The other didn’t look any different. He still looked like a caged animal. “They need help. They need to escape.”  
  
The other’s eyes stared at him and he felt bared by the gaze until it moved to the fire escape and took in the huddled group all in smocks and slippers, fear and resignation on their faces.   
  
Good. “They’re just as scared. Just as hurt. Let them leave and then you can bring this whole damn place to the ground.”   
  
He was struggling, Lance could tell, but slowly the flames lessened, stopped spreading just for a moment. His gaze was clearing and he looked back to Lance with violet eyes. “Go.”  
  
Lance nodded. “Thank you.”  
  
—  
  
Shiro and Keith worked well together, perhaps even better than Lance and he did. They moved together fluidly protecting each other and fighting around the other with the grace of long time partners. It was exhilarating.  
  
There was a moment of hesitation when they were confronted with Naturals in their cells but Shiro took control after a second of uncertainty and ushered them out towards the exit. It was different than with Lance. Lance always kept a dialogue going, speaking with and to the terrified individuals, flirting or acting the fool to get a smile and let them relax a bit. Shiro was all business. He was still warm and spoke as a person rather than a soldier, but he didn’t get personal. Instead he used his imposing figure and serious demeanor to put the Naturals at ease.   
  
He was a protector, not a friend.  
  
He was also a leader and Keith learned to follow him, even if it meant letting people live he would normally have burned. The labs remained standing but as burnt out husks rather than pile of rubble Lance and he would reduce them to.   
  
It felt wrong.   
  
When Shiro was stabbed in the side Keith flashed back to Lance sliding down a wall, blood trailing behind him. He wouldn’t lose another family member.   
  
The building remained standing. Shiro passed out on the drive back to the Castle. Keith stayed at his bed side until he woke.  
  
He didn’t have the heart to tell him they hadn’t succeeded in their mission.  
  
—  
  
“Pidge, there isn’t time!”  
  
“But I’m right here! I can get his location, just give me a few minutes!”  
  
“We don’t have a few minutes! Plant the virus and get out of there.”   
  
Matt’s voice crackled over the com and Pidge nearly threw it off in frustration. She had just seen Lance’s name in a directory that had sped off the second she’d realized what she had been looking at. Now it was buried and if she only had five more minutes she could find him. “Screw it. I’m taking the risk.”  
  
“Pidge don’t you-“  
  
She cut her brother off and entered an algorithm searching for any and all references to Lance and B13. Her memory stick flashed as the information transferred. Loading at 3 minutes. It’d be tight but she could do this.  
  
She had to do this.  
  
“Come on come on Lance where are you.” Files and windows popped up and minimized, documents and presentations flipped by her eyes too fast to comprehend but slow enough she could copy them to her drive.   
  
There was an explosion on the other end of the building that sent her stumbling against the console. “Shit.”  
  
2 minutes.  
  
The sound of feet thundering past the room she was in had her biting her lip.  
  
1 minute.  
  
The door slid open and she immediately let her taser loose, downing the guard.   
  
“Pidge? Katie! Katie answer me!”  
  
“Just a minute!”  
  
The loading screen turned green and she yanked her memory stick out replacing it with the drive that held the virus her brother had made. It lit up the screen and she was out of there, running as fast as her legs could carry her to the rendezvous point and praying she wasn’t too late. “I’m here I’m here!”   
  
Matt grabbed her around a corner and they took off.  
  
When they were in the van, he turned on her furious. “What was that Katie? You could have been left behind! You could have been captured!” His voice cracked and she felt guilty.  
  
“I’m sorry. I know it was risky but... I got him.”  
  
Matt’s tirade lost steam and he stared at her shocked. “You... you found him?”  
  
She grinned and held up her flash drive. “What you wanna bet Keith and Allura try and run out without a plan?”  
  
—  
  
He fires.  
  
The target takes a hit. His hands sweat and he trembles.  
  
The grunt beside him keeping a close watch doesn’t even flinch at the shot. Instead he trades out one gun for another. They’re testing his proficiency. He thinks about saving them the trouble and letting them know if it’s a gun he can shoot it but he doubts they’d listen. There was a Neutralizer around his wrist threatening him with its use. The new ones had a nice taser feature that he’d gotten a taste of when they had taken Hunk out for tests.   
  
His friend hadn’t returned before Lance was removed for his own trials.   
  
“Can I get some water? My hands are shaking like a leaf in a tornado and I don’t trust myself to hit a target instead of a person.” He jokes but his smile is met with stoic stares. “Jeeze no sense of humor.”  
  
He gets a water.  
  
When they finish he expects to be taken back to his cell but instead they end up in what appears to be an interrogation room. Shit. That can only mean one thing.  
  
He’s shackled to a chair.  
  
A few minutes go by when a man joins him. He stands tall with delicate features but his eyes are hardened and deliberately blank. He has a folder in his hands that he flips through in silence. Lance cant stand it, fidgets and tries to keep his mouth shut.   
  
Finally the folder snaps shut and the man studies him. “Lance McClain.”  
  
Lance grins. “The one and only. You about to take me to dinner or skip straight to fucking me up?”  
  
His comment earns nothing more than a cold stare. The man nods to someone outside. A woman who has to be Natural enters. She’s huge, muscles bulging and clothes straining. In any other situation, Lance would delight in knowing her in an intimate way. As it was he dreaded what he’d already suspected.   
  
The man continued as if Lance hadn’t spoken. “You and your friends have caused us quite a lot of trouble. We’re rather tired of it and are eager to hear your thoughts on sharing what you know with us.”  
  
The sharpshooter frowns, joking visage gone. “Surely you don’t expect me to say anything because if so I have bad news for you.”  
  
The man just smirks. “To tell the truth, I don’t mind either way. The end result will be the same for you and I must say I have quite a bit if aggression that needs working out.” He turns to the woman and she’s grinning. “Zethrid, if you’d mind?”  
  
Lance had been expecting the woman built like a body builder to do the working over but instead she took his jacket and held out a pair of shiny brass knuckles.  
  
Well shit.  
  
“My name is Lotor, Mr. McClain, and I am very pleased to meet you.”   
  
—  
  
The building before Keith blazed with his anger as he stood unmoving watching until the last ember fell. A hand settled on his shoulder and he startled, turning with fire in his hands ready to fight.  
  
It was the guy from lab. Dressed in khakis and a tucked in polo shirt, hair only slightly frizzy from the heat of earlier and eyes that were far too perceptive and unnerving to stare at for long. He held his hands up again to show he was harmless and Keith tried to relax.  
  
“What are you still doing here?”   
  
The man’s smile never faded even in the face of Keith’s raw hostility. “There was one more that needed saving.”  
  
For a second Keith froze, panicked and running through the faces and bodies he’d seen fearing the worst. It wasn’t until the man settled a hand on his bicep that he realized what he meant. Anger burst forth and he snarled. “I don’t need saving.”  
  
He seemed unperturbed. It was infuriating and confusing. “Help, then.” His hand must be burning from the heat of Keith’s flesh but he didn’t move it. “My name’s Lance. I’m one of the good guys.”  
  
Keith simmered. Felt the fatigue settle in as the last of his fire faded. Suddenly he was too tired to fight. “Keith.”   
  
Lance didn’t hesitate to pull him into a hug.  
  
His fire sizzled, leaving only smoke in its wake.  
  
—  
  
Allura didn’t trust the soldier she had grabbed on a whim while escaping from the enemy base back to the village acting as her home for the time being. He was chatty and flirtatious but none of his smiles reached his eyes and those eyes were disturbingly sharp. He never missed a movement, tracking his surroundings like it was imperative that he document every little detail.   
  
More than that they were the eyes of a killer. She should know, hers were similar.  
  
“Coran, I have acquired a... complication. They’ll be looking to retaliate so I’m extending my stay. Please make any adjustments you need to.” Her partner sounded off and she dropped the satellite phone to the table that stood central in her hut. Her prisoner (hostage?) was laying on the bed bound at the wrists and ankles resting after a fruitless interview. All she got out of him was that his ability had to to do with guns but no reason as to why he was working for the organization that was hunting their kind down.  
  
She had her theories.   
  
When he woke she gave him food and water and tried again, this time nicely. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’ve clearly been hurt enough. I just want to help, for those like me. Like us.”  
  
His expression never changed, unaffected.   
  
“Fine.” Frustration colored her tone and she stood. “Whatever you think of me, I don’t care. I have to ready for retaliation for your capture. This village is innocent and I refuse to let them suffer due to my moment of weakness.” He remained silent. She held up a small remote. “There’s a disk on your back. You move from this tent, you get a shock that will incapacitate you.”   
  
She left.   
  
The village was a safe haven for Naturals and thus had a wide variety of able bodied individuals all ready to protect the place that welcomed them either from other tribes or as escapees from the Organization known simply as The Company. Even then it wasn’t a large number of people but it was more than nothing. It would be a tough fight, but not impossible.  
  
She wasn’t counting on bombs dropped from above.  
  
What started as a rather even fight turned into a blood bath as explosions lit the night sky. Screams rose from the front lines and behind. They faltered.  
  
By the end, the village was leveled. Survivors had fled to the forest keeping the casualties to a minimum but still so many were lost. They had held out but at what cost? Allura stood with half her numbers still alive. She felt defeated. Beaten. Out played.  
  
Returning to the hut didn’t even occur to her until she realized she didn’t see her captive among those that fled. Of course she hadn’t. She’d damned him with that stupid fucking disk. She ran, heart in her throat.  
  
A body laid out before the wreckage of her hut and Allura slid to a stop. She stared with tears in her eyes as she knelt beside it and deactivated the disk. “Oh no. No no no.” Her hands shake as she sets them on his shoulders. “Please I’m so sorry.”   
  
The body moved and she hoped.  
  
A tiny hand poked out from beneath the body followed shortly by a small chubby arm and Allura didn’t waste any time in moving the body to free the girl trapped beneath it. “Child!” The girl stared up tears welling in her eyes. She looked to the body and sat beside it as if all the strength was sapped from her little limbs.   
  
“Mister?” She shoved at his side. “Mister? Are you ok?” Confused she looked up at Allura and Allura choked down a sob. “Is he ok?”  
  
Allura pursed her lips and felt her heart break.  
  
“Stop crying... you’ll... get wrinkles.” The voice shocked Allura and the girl squealed beside her throwing her tiny body into the weak arms of the not dead and very much alive man before them.   
  
“How...?” Allura stared at the man’s face and saw an exhaustion so deep it rattled in his bones. He seemed to have given up, succumbed to his fate only to have it ripped away leaving a shell behind.   
  
Still he managed a smile for the girl. “Beats me.”  
  
“You risked yourself for her.”  
  
He nods. “Hurt like hell but like fuck I’m letting them take someone so damn young because of me.”   
  
Allura holds out her hand. “Allura.”  
  
His hand trembles as he takes her’s. “Lance.”  
  
—  
  
It took a few days to sort through the files Pidge took and neither she nor Matt mentioned Lance to anyone until she knew for sure where to find him. The last thing she needed was his boyfriend and Princess breathing down her neck while running every decoding program she had.  
  
But she found him.  
  
“He’s in a facility in California. It’s been a military base until recently when they opened a lab right in the center of the complex making it the hardest to infiltrate yet. Likely a move to combat our hits.” She taps the page zooming in until the compound filled the screen. “Our bets bet is a small team, two or three, sneaking in as a hit and run.”   
  
Allura nods. “Priority is to grab Lance and whoever else is there and get out. No contact, no combat, no damage.” She pointedly looked at Keith who was barely managing to stay still.   
  
He scowled, clearly not happy with that bit.   
  
Allura continued. “We’ll send in Shiro, Keith, and you, Pidge. You’ll have the best chance of making sure they get in and out without triggering any alarms. Shiro I want you taking point. Keith, try not to set anything on fire unless necessary. Understood?”  
  
A collective agreement.  
  
“Good. Travel to San Diego then move in under cover of dark.”  
  
—  
  
Things weren’t always smooth sailing with Lance and Keith. After Keith’s unconventional recruitment they were paired together on most of their missions. Allura’s reasoning was that Lance couldn’t keep going in alone and Keith was in desperate need of training. While she worked one on one with him on control and separating emotion from his abilities, Lance took up the mantle of espionage mentor.  
  
It went south almost instantly.  
  
“You can’t just blow up like that! You do that on a mission and you’re going to get somebody killed.”  
  
“I was doing just fine on my own with my own methods!”  
  
“Oh yeah? And how well did you vet the place beforehand? You sure you didn’t trap Naturals or innocents?”  
  
“I’m pretty damn sure I’m going to punch that superior look off of your face!”  
  
“Come at me, Mullet. I’m fucking ready.”  
  
“Don’t tempt me.”   
  
Allura sighed looking to the Ancients to send her patience. Coran was beside her laughing at the conversation that echoed from the gym.   
  
“They’re rather rambunctious today.” His amusement was unmistakable and Allura wondered how he did it.  
  
“Coran I don’t mean to be rude but how can you act so calm while our entire operation falls to pieces thanks to those two and their pride?”  
  
“Well, my dear Allura, have you ever heard Lance as lively as he has been since our new tenant arrived?”  
  
She considered this carefully, turning over every interaction and conversation they’d had and realized that no she hadn’t. Sure he was flirtatious and a friendly enough guy, but he had always been reserved, knowing his limits, the limits of others, and careful not to step on any toes. He never yelled and only raised his voice when calling shots during a mission or in a fire fight. Nothing like the screaming matches between him and Keith.  
  
In fact even when they were getting along, Lance seemed to be more free in his expression. He grew physically affectionate, leaning casually on Keith or Allura, touching a hand or arm or shoulder, and holding their hands when he felt they needed comfort. It was... odd now that she had noticed.   
  
Was this new addition something Lance had been searching for? An equal just as messed up and angry as he was?   
  
Someone he could empathize with freely.  
  
Allura smiled. “I suppose not.”  
  
—  
  
Coran was the one to approach Lance with a proposal that used his gift in the way it had been trained. The man had seemed... not at ease but... not uncomfortable asking Lance to take up contract killing. It had been half a year since he had joined their cause and the recovery from his stint as a military assassin and subsequent brainwashing was a struggle. Part of the issue was that as he had been taught his ability had no real use outside of killing. There was an itch that needed scratching and that itch sent him spiraling in a twister of shame and disgust.  
  
He was finally free from being a weapon and yet he still longed for the feel of a rifle in his hands and a clean kill under his belt. It felt wrong. He felt wrong.  
  
And then Coran came to him.  
  
“Lance, would you walk with me for a minute?”   
  
Lance had been cleaning his pistol in the old chorus room but paused at the question. Coran had always been nice to him and was more perceptive than he let on, something the sharpshooter could relate to. There was no reason to feel uneasy with him so he shook the feeling away and nodded, setting his pistol parts aside for later.   
  
They walked in silence for a few halls before Coran finally spoke. “How have you been adjusting to life at the church?”  
  
Lance raised a brow at the question but answered slowly. “It’s been... ok. Nice, plenty of food, a warm bed. No complaints here.”  
  
Coran hummed in acknowledgement. “I see.” They continued on in silence walking out and into the courtyard. It was a peaceful morning with a lingering mist and  dew clinging to the grass. The Sun was just barely in the sky and a soothing breeze rustled the trees. “I have a proposal for you.” Lance looked up from studying the path they walked on curious. Coran didn’t look at him keeping an eye on whatever destination he had in mind. “You are more than welcome to turn it down as I fear it’s something that’s too much to ask.”  
  
Lance felt dread settle heavy in his stomach. Was he about to ask the sharpshooter to leave? Had Lance overstepped? Or was he not worthy for redemption? His worry must have shone through because Coran quickly corrected himself.  
  
“What I mean to say is that this request is a heavy one, but nothing that will disrupt your stay here!” He smiled, mustache twitching with the movement. “There are those that seek to betray us, those that offer nothing but trouble and danger. They escape from our hits alive and with far too much intel. Then there are others who stand to make a hefty sum on the back of their victims. People who trade in weapons, Naturals, and drugs. So far all we’ve been able to do is keep tabs on these individuals, disrupt their business if there’s time to, but never leaving a lasting blow.”  
  
Lance knew where this was going but he wasn’t disturbed. In fact his blood rushed and heart pounded in anticipation. Coran finally stopped by the fountain that stood in the middle of the court yard to look at him.  
  
“I want to hire you to dispatch these threats.”  
  
And there it was. He should feel offended that this is what he was reduced to even here in the safety of the church, but instead he felt excitement thrum in his veins.   
  
“When do I start?”  
  
—  
  
Hunk was back in his cell when Lance got dropped off. He couldn’t really walk straight so the guards had dumped on his bed, leaving him gasping from the rough treatment. He groaned and turned over towards the other occupant, squinting through a black eye and taking him in. He didn’t seem to be physically injured so that was good at least.  
  
He was staring at Lance with worried frown. “You look like shit. What did they do to you?”  
  
Lance tried to laugh. “Interrogation though I think it was more stress relief for them. Didn’t work too hard at getting answers.”   
  
Nyma was quiet, perhaps recognizing that the two men weren’t in a state to handle her particular sense of humor. “How are you, big guy?”   
  
Hunk shrugged. He was favoring his right shoulder and seemed to be sweating through his shirt. “Fine. They just took me out for drills. Dislocated a shoulder but they popped it back in.” He cringed at the memory and Lance wished he could have taken on that pain. They’d only known each other for a few days but Lance could tell the man was a soft soul, kind hearted and not at all suited to this kind of treatment. The Company would be trying to break him soon and Lance hoped their rescue came before they had the chance.  
  
They were both exhausted and conversation dropped off leaving a heavy silence punctuated only by the occasional grunt or cough as Lance attempted to get comfortable. He drifted.   
  
Lance found himself in Lotor’s company four more times that week. The last had seen him leaving with a broken arm and mangled fingers. This one had actually made him cry, sobbing and begging for the torture to stop. Still he revealed nothing of importance and his hands would likely never be the same. They were quick to set the arm and hand but the pain was intolerable and he passed out, only to wake up back in his cell. He stared unblinking at the ceiling. Hunk tried to get him talking but he just... couldn’t. His mouth was dry and mind a mush.  
  
He knew what came next. He knew he’d be drafted although he had no idea what method they had to do so. Brainwashing required being broken down and rebuilt but he knew better now. He still had hope and there was nothing and no one the Company could use against him. He’d likely be put into a fire fight and given someone or someones to protect.   
  
Joke’s on them, he may be a better person than he used to be but he’d let another die without hesitation if it kept the Castle safe and Lance’s ability out of their hands.   
  
“Leave him alone, Hunk. He’s gone.” Nyma’s voice was surprisingly disappointed and he could imagine the hurt in her eyes as she turned away from his cell.   
  
Hunk went quiet but Lance felt his eyes on him, watching, not wanting to believe. Lance wished he had the energy to reassure the man.   
  
Sleep came as silence once again descended.   
  
—  
  
“They’re going to kill him.” Hunk startled from his spot on his bed where he’d been staring at the empty cell that Lance should have been in. He turned to Nyma with confusion clear on his face.  
  
She sucked her teeth. “He thinks he’ll be used on the battle field, but drafts don’t get sent here.” Her arms were folded and he could just make out her hands gripping so hard her knuckles went white. “They’ll strap him to a gurney, sedate him, then wheel him out to the farm to be tested and used as a fucking lab rat.” Anger seeped through every word and Hunk shuddered at the imagery.  
  
Still he remained hopeful. “Lance said people are coming for him.” This seemed to put her in an even worse mood.  
  
“Yeah and how long has it been? Two weeks?” She grit her teeth. “No one’s coming.”   
  
He frowned and looked back to the bed his friend had been in when they came to get him. He actually struggled this time, weakly but it was new and Hunk feared the reasoning behind it. Had he given up on rescue and therefore lost the hope he had been clinging to? Was it that the interrogations had escalated to being unbearable even for someone as unshakable as Lance?   
  
Or was it just the natural progression of fear rising in response to pain?  
  
Hunk didn’t want to think about what that meant for him.   
  
“He’ll be fine.” And if he wasn’t... Hunk refused to go down that train of thought.  
  
Nyma scoffed.  
  
—  
  
The plan was simple. In and out as Allura had insisted, no contact, no fighting. Pidge tore through any lock that stood in their way as Shiro cleared a path quietly and efficiently, knocking out any soldier they came across that couldn’t be avoided. Keith felt useless compared to them but he didn’t entertain the self deprecating part of him and instead focused on the layout displayed from his holo wrist band. The lab was easy to find as the only building that stood apart from the clusters and extensions that made up the military complex.  
  
All in all getting in was the easy part.  
  
Perhaps too easy.  
  
Keith felt unnerved. Shiro was tense and Pidge clutched her tablet close having both came to the same conclusion. Something was off.  
  
“Cells are basement level. Two heat signatures. Three guards and about a dozen more between here and there.” Frustration edged Pidge’s voice.   
  
Shiro nodded. “Stairs?”  
  
“Stairs. Down one level.”   
  
It was slow going as they crept through the building but eventually they stood at the door to the basement. Keith’s heart pounded. They were so close.

  
Shiro took out the guards and dragged them around the corner, out of sight. He motioned to Keith who nodded and pressed his back against the wall to the left of two large doors. Pidge was beside him with her tonfas out and sparking with the electricity that flowed through them. Shiro mimicked their position on the opposite side. He counted down.   
  
Keith held his breath.    
  
Pidge’s eyes shone with anticipation.   
  
0\.    
  
He kicked open the door. Shiro was already zipping past to take out the remaining workers as Pidge set about finding the security panel and dismantling it. Keith ran in and immediately looked for Lance.   
  
One cell held a heavy set man who looked just as terrified as he was relieved and the other a woman with a sour expression on her face. There were more cells but as he walked along, sword at the ready, he realized they’d never been touched.   
  
All except one with the blanket strewn on the floor and pillow indented.    
  
Pidge’s triumphant howl brought Keith to the present. “Go ahead and open the cells, guys. We’ve got five before we gotta get the hell out of dodge.”   
  
The man was staring with excitement in his eyes where as the woman had a clear expression of shock and disbelief. The doors slid open and Shiro smiled.    
  
“Hey. I’m Shiro, that’s Pidge and Keith. We’re here to help you.”    
  
“No fucking way.” The woman hesitated as she stood and walked out of the cell. Her eyes locked with Keith’s. “Pretty boy was right.” Keith inhaled. All too quickly her expression crumbled. “Shit.”   
  
The man was standing beside Shiro at this point and they looked to him in confusion. “Lance, he... he was taken away a day ago. Hasn’t been back.” He swallowed. “He was in bad shape.”    
  
Keith’s hearing tunneled, a static ringing growing until he couldn’t hear anything but. Shiro’s hand was on his arm and he was talking but Keith couldn’t make out the words. Pidge took care of the neutralizers. Keith couldn’t see past the blanket in the unoccupied cell.    
  
Lance was here, but they were too late.   
  
“Keith.” His eyes dragged over to Shiro’s. “Keith we have to go.” He felt numb.    
  
Too fucking late.   
  
Anger flooded his veins, familiar and comforting. It scorched his insides and thrummed under his skin. Every nerve was suddenly alight with his wrath. His head cleared and he moved.   
  
He shoved past Shiro and stared down (or up at) the two prisoners. “Where is he.”   
  
“Keith we don’t have time!” Shiro tried to grab his shoulder but Keith shrugged him off and asked again.   
  
“The farm.” The woman’s voice was small, timid. Fear colored her words and Keith felt the anger swell. “I can show you where it is, but you better not leave me after.”   
  
Keith looked to Shiro who sighed exasperated. “Fine. Keep coms open. You find Lance and we meet at the rendezvous point in thirty. Anyone else... we’ll have to come back for. This is an extraction, not a large scale rescue.”   
  
He nodded his understanding and followed the woman as she walked confidently out of the cell block and into the bowels of the building.   
  
It was a slow venture and Keith struggled to stay focused, wrestling with his instincts to just burn the place down. Nyma, she’d introduced herself, “just in case; I want someone to know who I was,” led him through the building like someone who had traversed these halls many times before. He didn’t know how to interpret the familiarity but chose not to think too much into it. Not now with Lance’s life at risk. Later there would be time for suspicion and answers.   
  
After what felt like a maze of halls they finally stood in front of a door labeled RESTRICTED and QUARANTINE. There was a sticker indicating hazmat suits were recommended and Keith feared what that meant for Lance and for their rescue.   
  
Nyma seemed unbothered, crouching just below the small rectangular windows in the door and exchanging a glance with Keith. He nodded, his palms sweating.    
  
She kicked the door open and he went into action, charging after her and taking out a guard as she downed a scientist. There were three more rushing them but he was filled adrenaline and desperation. The first went down, he turned lashing out at the second. His blade’s pommel hit them in the temple and he was already twisting using the body to kick off the ground and catch the third with his boot, crushing their nose. Nyma dropped and swept the guard’s leg. He was down and out and Keith was running through the decontamination booth to what Nyma had called a farm, the woman hot on his heels.   
  
He skidded to a stop, shock widening his eyes and churning his stomach.   
  
Farm was right.   
  
Vertical pods lined the room in rows, glowing eerily in the dark. Bodies hung suspended hooked to machines, some standard monitors, IVs, and others... he couldn’t find the word for them. They all had masks over their mouth and nose, providing oxygen and possibly whatever kept them sedated. Thick metal chords exited the back of the pods and made their way to the ceiling where they branched off all heading towards the back of the room. It was too large to see where they hooked into and he didn’t particularly care. He was too distracted by the horrors before him and the urgent need to find Lance.    
  
Nyma had already begun combing the isles. When he could move again, he set to work on the opposite side. What would happen if he found Lance? Would it be safe to remove him? Was he even still alive? All there mentally? Some of these bodies were emaciated, sickly and awful to look at. Lance was only gone a day so he had to be better off than what Keith was seeing.   
  
“Over here.” Nyma’s voice was so quiet in the large room, Keith nearly missed her call. He rushed to her side and registered the jump in her jaw as she clenched it, eyes staring up with barely concealed tears. She wasn’t sad though. No it was anger he saw in her eyes and he felt an answering pulse of his own.   
  
Finally he looked to the pod.   
  
“Jesus.” Lance was suspended, arm and hand still in a splint and various other injuries visible. He watched as the smaller scratches slowly knit back together, watched as bones moved beneath his skin, realigning and healing, saw his swollen eye lesson a fraction. Aside from the sluggish healing, he looked dead. His skin had lost all of its vibrant color, his hair hung limp and dull, his body was thinner, ribs poking through. It was a sad sight to someone who had seen Lance at his brightest. Had held him in his arms and admired the way they fit together. Looked into eyes that lit up with amusement, love.   
  
He held a hand to his mouth to muffle his displeasure.   
  
Nyma gave him his privacy, going to back to inspecting the various other pods.   
  
Finally Keith breathed. Shook himself from his premature mourning with determination and checked the pod for an access panel. There happened to be card reader and Keith cursed his luck that Pidge wasn’t there to bypass it. Then again he had something just as good.   
  
It only took a minute to search the knocked out scientist to find a key card. He held it up to the reader and delighted in its swift approval. The pod hissed as it drained of liquid and Keith watched as Lance grew heavy, listing forward without the support. He was ready when the screen slid aside and Lance fell into his ready arms. It was a comforting weight and he couldn’t help but indulge in a second to just hold his boyfriend, feeling his heart beating in his chest and the slight rise and fall as he breathed. Relief overwhelmed him.   
  
Nyma returned to help remove the wires and hook ups. They had to sit Lance against the pod to do so and that's when they found that the thick cable didn’t just hook into the pods, it was attached to a jack that had been surgically installed into the subjects’ backs. Keith’s head spun while Nyma cursed softly.   
  
“It’s really in there. I don’t think it’s safe to remove. Fuck. Fuck!” She tugged at her hair trying to think of a solution. Keith was mute, unable to do more than stare and wonder if this had all been for nothing. “Ok. Ok. So we can remove the plug but we can at least detach the... cable. Figure the rest out back at your base or HQ or whatever. That sound good?”   
  
Keith nodded numbly. Adjusted Lance so he could see the connection clearly. It didn’t take much finessing to remove but they went slow unsure of the effect it would have. Lance whimpered as it was disconnected and Keith grit his teeth. They waited with baited breath for anything more to happen but when nothing did, breathed a sigh of relief and removed his mask. Keith lifted him in his arms. “Nyma.”    
  
She was one step ahead of him, shucking her long top and forcing it over Lance’s body. She was tall and it covered him well enough for the time being. He thanked her, hefted Lance on to his back, and started making their way out.   
  
It was unnerving how quiet the facility was. Nyma took up scouting ahead to make sure they wouldn’t run into anyone but even that precaution seemed unnecessary. Keith’s skin crawled with anxiety and he tightened his grip on Lance’s legs. It wasn’t until they were out and headed to the alcove they had chosen as their rendezvous point that Keith realized what bothered him. This was supposed to be an active military base and yet all they had run into had been scientists, orderlies, and the odd security officer. Even with the intention of avoiding conflict they had planned on running into a fight at some point.    
  
Yet the fights they had found hadn’t lasted and didn’t lead to any alarm.   
  
What the hell was going on?   
  
He could just see Shiro’s tuft of gray in the shadows. His heart lifted with relief and he smiled tiredly even as he sped up. “Shiro.”   
  
There was a click behind him and light flooded the courtyard. Shiro’s eyes went wide and he grabbed Pidge before she could break away. They sunk deeper into the alcove to avoided detection and Keith realized he was suddenly alone. “Nyma do you see-“   
  
Something cold pressed against his temple. Cylindrical. It took a second longer than it should have to realize it was the barrel of a gun and on the other side of that gun stood Nyma. Her face was twisted in anguish. He stared at her before understanding sunk in.    
  
“A set up.” His voice sounded hollow.    
  
Nyma gave a wry smile. “You guys made a pretty big enemy. They’re not happy at having been bested so many times.”   
  
He felt oddly calm at the turn of events. None of the anger that had been bubbling and building broke through to the surface. It simmered. Faded, leaving only ashes in its wake. There were soldiers surrounding him and he wondered why she hadn’t waited until they met the others to spring the trap. Perhaps it was a crack of empathy that saved the rest of his team. Maybe Nyma hadn’t seen them and had gotten tired of the charade.   
  
It didn’t matter.    
  
He shifted Lance and Nyma held the gun steady. “Don’t move, lover boy.”   
  
He frowned. “You’ve got me surrounded with a gun to my head. The hell am I going to do?” She considered this and he took the opportunity to kneel and carefully lie Lance down. The he stood again, hands up palms out. “Who were you looking for, in the lab?”    
  
Nyma wasn’t expecting the question and she faltered, anger breaking through once again. He stared at her, not even bothering with the soldiers slowly advancing. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t find him.”   
  
Keith nodded. “I’m sorry.”   
  
Her lip curled in a sneer and she stabbed the gun to his chest. “I don’t need your fucking pity. Get on the ground, hands up.” She clicked off the safety to emphasize the order.    
  
It was odd how comforting her answer was. Of course they had someone she cared about. Of course they would use that to get Keith in a similar situation. Of course they assumed none of the Castle’s rebels would endanger an innocent.    
  
Of course they expected him to quietly give up when faced with the moral quandary.   
  
It’s too bad for them that Keith would choose Lance over his own life or the life of others any day. It was also too bad for them that Keith’s anger had grown cold at the manipulation. He knelt. His eyes never wavered.    
  
His arms raised.   
  
He stared at Nyma, took in her anger, fear, and sadness and bottled it into his own turmoil. He looked around studying the soldiers and vaguely registering a helicopter hover above providing the blinding light. In this moment the air stilled and the world was on pause.   
  
They had been so close.   
  
A breeze blew and ruffled his hair. He looked down and saw Lance, looking so small in just a shirt. He saw him shiver and his eyes work beneath his eyelids. He thought of their first meeting when Keith had given up control and let chaos reign. The hand that brought him down and grounded him.   
  
He closed his eyes.   
  
Inhaled.   
  
Control was over rated anyways.   
  
He reached for his anger, his betrayal, and grabbed onto it, yanking it to the forefront of his being and letting it drown him. Heat surged through him. Burned his insides and seared his mind as he reached deeper to his fire. It caressed him like an old friend and he exhaled, letting it overtake him.    
  
Fire burst to life in the ring of soldiers. They screamed, startled, not expecting the spontaneity of the flame. It swelled unimpeded by their attempts to extinguish it. Nyma was yelling, her hand shaking. “How?! How the hell-You-you created that out of nothing! What the fuck are you?!”   
  
Guns went off but nothing could escape his fire. It was hotter than he’d ever conjured before, burning blue at the edges and melting whatever it came in contact with. He opened his eyes to look at Nyma. Leaned forward until the gun was pressed against his forehead, daring her to shoot even as steam rose from the contact.   
  
She shook, terror twisting her features. “You’re fucking crazy. You’re fucking crazy!” She backed away and he never broke eye contact.    
  
When she ran, he didn’t go after her. Instead the fire closed the circle and spread outward. He felt it thrive, hungry for devastation, fueled by his anger. He turned to pick up Lance again, uncaring of the soldiers surging towards them. The inferno closed in, destroying everything in his way. Jumped to fingers and faces, overwhelmed person after person until all that was left were charred remains littering the pathway.   
  
And once it ran out of victims, it spread. In minutes the lab was overtaken. The helicopter above was screaming orders, readying their weapons. The engine blew with just a look from Keith.    
  
The compound raged in destruction as he left, but all he knew, all he cared about, was Lance’s weight in his arms and the satisfaction from losing himself to his ability.   
  
Shiro, Pidge and Hunk were waiting for him. They didn’t speak as the team crammed themselves into the jeep they’d “borrowed.” He could feel Shiro’s disappointment, Pidge’s disbelief, but he didn’t acknowledge them. There’d be time for a lecture later. A time to mourn the lives trapped in the farm that were not quite alive anymore and would be consumed by his fire.    
  
No one other than Lance had ever seen Keith in the state he was now. Cold, uncaring of others, uncaring of who died and who lived so long as they felt the pain he once knew. Lashing out in ways previously deemed impossible. Conjuring fire not from himself but from those around him. It felt good to let it go. It felt good to lose his composure and let the fire free without limits.    
  
It was intoxicating.   
  
The high wouldn’t last and when it fell, he’d have to deal with the consequences of his actions.   
  
Until then, he held Lance close and ignored the world.   
  
—   
  
Lance woke to a whispered argument and bright fluorescent lights. His head felt like it was filled with cotton and his mouth was dry.    
  
“We could have saved those people, Keith!” A hiss of Allura’s voice. Though it was angry it still filled Lance with comfort and joy to hear.    
  
“You didn’t see them, Princess. They were already dead.” And that would be Keith, frustrated and probably biting his cheek to keep from lashing out. “We were lucky to find Lance in time.”   
  
Lance had to agree though he had no clue what they were arguing about. In fact... what had happened? How did he get here, in the unmistakable medic bay of the Castle? Last thing he remembered was being taken from his cell and injected with a strong sedative.    
  
“You killed an entire lab of people, not counting the soldiers outside of the facility! That is unacceptable.”    
  
Keith snorted. “Don’t be such a hypocrite, Allura. We’ve all killed for the supposed greater good.”   
  
“When we had to!”   
  
“I was surrounded! What would you have had me do?!”   
  
“Wait for Shiro and Pidge! They had a plan!”   
  
“How the hell was I supposed to know that? I did what I had to with the limited options I had. I’m not discussing this anymore.” There was a tired sigh and Lance heard his boyfriend walk closer to the bed.    
  
“There will be consequences, Keith. The retaliation from their side will come and you will have to face it.” There was silence and then the sound of a door closing.   
  
Keith sat in the chair beside Lance’s bed and Lance couldn’t help but smile.   
  
“Rough day?” He croaked out, wincing at how rough his voice was.   
  
Keith sat up in surprise and immediately grabbed Lance’s hand. “Lance!” His face was lined with exhaustion, dark circles under his eyes, a bad case of bed head, and a washed out pallor. He clearly hadn’t been sleeping well or at all. “How long have you been awake?”   
  
Lance’s smile grew strained but he squeezed Keith’s hand to show he was fine. “Not long. A few minutes.”    
  
Keith was so relieved to see him awake tears gathered and fell down his cheeks as he lifted Lance’s hand and held it against his face. Lance didn’t know what else to do except wait patiently.   
  
“How long have I been out?”   
  
“A week.” Damn that was a long time. Lance felt a stab of guilt at having made them all wait for so long, even if there was nothing he could have done.    
  
He frowned and for a few minutes they just sat in silence. He broke it as he moved to sit up and decided that was a bad idea, dropping back down with a hiss of pain. Keith was quick to help him, repositioning his pillow and pulling up his blanket.    
  
“You shouldn’t move yet. Your back is still healing.”   
  
“My back?” The injuries he remembered were all healed, somehow, but he never injured his back. “What the hell happened?”   
  
Keith’s expression grew dark. “They sent you to what they call the farm to harness your power and energy. To do that they... installed... a port into your back that connected to your spine. It had to be surgically removed.” His brow furrowed in anger. “You’ll be in physical therapy for a few months. Your other injuries healed quickly thanks to whatever they had you on.”   
  
Well that explained why he couldn’t feel his legs which he didn’t even register until Keith mentioned it. “Hunk and Nyma? Did you find them?”   
  
Keith’s lip curled in a vicious sneer. “Nyma was a trap. She was planted so that when we came to rescue you, she’d take us out.” The memory was clearly upsetting and the revelations left a sour taste in Lance’s mouth. “Hunk is fine. He was cleared a few days ago but he’s been visiting to help with your recovery.”   
  
This got Keith a quizzical look. “His power, it takes the pain of others and helps speed the recovery process. Down side is he has the symptoms he lifted right after a session.”   
  
That made sense for the big guy. Such a kind hearted individual would have something selfless. So much different from Lance’s power, from Keith’s. Lance nodded and his thumb caressed Keith’s hand in his.    
  
“So... you lost control?” Not an accusation.    
  
“Not really. I... let go of control. The entire facility burned to the ground. Allura’s not happy.” That was an understatement. Even when they cleaned up in a similar way, they always evacuated the buildings first. From the argument he’d heard, there had been no such precautions.    
  
Lance couldn’t find it in himself to care. He met Keith’s eyes and held them. “Good.”   
  
Keith smiled.   
  
—   
  
Recovery was a long frustrating process but eventually Lance was mission ready. Despite Allura and Shiro’s protests, he jumped at the first task brought to him by Coran.    
  
This time, Keith was with him.   
  
For the first time he set up in a hotel room, his rifle poised through the balcony window with Keith lounging on the bed. For the first time he shared in the high that came after dispatching the man who they had tracked down and discovered to be the creator of the farm.    
  
As he laid with Keith, naked and tangled together, there were finally no secrets between them. No judgement, no concern, just understanding and unconditional love.

 

Their hands came together as Keith moved above Lance, rings shining in the low light.


End file.
